Wells’ fight scenes are kinetic and tactical, juxtaposing visceral descriptions of Murderbot’s organic parts sloughing off with occasionally balletic fight sequences between Murderbot, its drones and whatever targets it happens to be facing off against. If it is, it’s a book on philosophy wrapped in the perfect space opera, full of mysterious alien remnants, thrilling firefights inside of sentient space ships and political and corporate intrigue. Of course, Network Effect is far from a book on philosophy. Despite its name, Murderbot is the most awkwardly human character to come out of science fiction in a long time. At others, it’s the feeling of intruding on someone as they try to understand exactly how to relate to their fellow sentient beings-and often fail. The result is, at times, laugh-out-loud insights into human behavior. Murderbot’s sarcastic, adolescent humor suffuses the book, giving readers the distinct feeling of reading real-time logs directly off Murderbot’s strange, twisted core processor. Like Wells’ previous novellas starring Murderbot, Network Effect is a masterclass in tone. Network Effect is the first novel-length work in Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries saga and the fifth entry in the series overall.

But when an old acquaintance kidnaps Murderbot’s crew and demands its help as ransom, Murderbot is forced away from the media feed to save the day (again) and get its humans back safe and sound. Despite the downsides of caring for humans (most notably, caring for them interferes with television time), Murderbot is content with its position within Preservation Station and with the life and associates it has collected over the years. Or if you’re responsible for the health and safety of a crew of humans who seem just so incredibly bent on getting themselves killed, either on standard survey missions or in attempted hostile incursions from the Corporation Rim. Especially if you’re a SecUnit who’s hacked your governor module in order to watch thousands of hours of human media feeds. Life isn’t easy in the great, wide universe.

Network effect by martha wells